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Category Archives: Zinfandel

The rules about buying alcohol in Texas on Sunday break down like this: you cannot buy hard liquor, you can buy beer and wine but only between the hours of noon and 10p. That is unless you live in a “dry county”, then of course, you can’t. Wine shoppes are closed on Sunday but you can buy wine in a grocery. I fail to see the logic in these rules but I can work with a 10-hour window to get to a grocery.

Breakup Guy read my Breakup Mole post and liked, he will be assisting in tonight’s research. He also wanted me to know – “Its not me, its just these girls, they’re crazy!”.

Actually, I disagree. They aren’t crazy but I have observed they are shamelessly manipulating him. He just hasn’t crafted an efficient exit strategy from relationships with people who want him to be something he isn’t and likely never will be. Unnecessary drama ensues and bad feelings rain down like toxic confetti. He’s the guy with minimal possessions and a serious need to take on more physical challenges; marriage is a back burner issue. Better he quickly filter out those who cannot accept that mindset.

And now on with more important topics. I had a one Zinfandel in storage and acquired another. Tonight’s subject are:

Plungerhead Old Vines Zinfandel 2009

Giana Zinfandel 2005

First lets visit the plate. Its the same chicken mole with a bit of cilantro and sour cream as last night. However I added a cilantro-currant rice and some fresh cayenne pepper. And now the wines.

Giana Solo

Deep red bordering on maroon

Smooth, full bodied, moderate tannins but not at all bitter

A mouth full of black cherry, black currant and ripe plum

Undercurrent of pepper but not as strong as some Zins

Long, pleasant finish

Giana with Mole

Brilliant, the pepper flavors in both the wine and mole create a seamless experience. Actually for just a moment the pepper flavor gets hotter then dissipates, an interesting sensation.

The chocolate and cinnamon in the mole pair well with the cherry and plum flavors in the mole.

The cilantro-currant rice and source cream are actually necessary to tame down the wine/mole pepper ascension. I think without one or the other the experience would be too fiery.

Plungerhead Solo

Deep red almost purple,

Smooth, medium bodied with moderate tannins, not bitter.

Flavors range from bing cherry and red twizzler to a little blueberry and blackberry. However this is not “Jammy”, its more along the line of fresh fruit.

A little pepper but the spice is more nutmeg or cinnamon

Medium finish mostly I’m left with a blueberry with some cinnamon astringency.

Plungerhead with Mole

Also brilliant, the fresh fruit flavors counterbalance the weighty mole and the cinnamon finish to the wine bonds immediately with the cinnamon and chocolate in the mole.

The pepper in the mole works with the wine flavors as a enhancement but there isn’t the pepper burst we had with the Giana.

The rice and sour cream don’t add or detract from this wine, it was fine with or without.

In the end, it really depends on what experience you want and what flavors you prefer but I don’t think you can go wrong with either of these wines when pairing with mole.

It was interesting that Breakup Guy didn’t identify the flavors in the wine as much as the memories he associated with the flavors. The Plungerhead reminded him of a camping trip he took with his brothers in southern Alabama. Later, he told me that they stumbled across wild blackberries on that trip and those blackberries became a staple.